I
arrived home early Tuesday morning. The flight returning was not
nearly as pleasant as that going to the States. First of all, the
plane was full. At least Economy was full; Executive Class had
only about three people in it. Recently I have made this rather
Quixotic decision to do a good deed when the opportunity presented
itself.

This time I said I would give up my aisle seat to a young couple who
was very upset because they had been assigned separate seats and were
complaining to all the flight attendants (and probably the pilot, too,
since they were holding up our take-off). So I got to endure an
overnight flight in a middle seat.

Everyone was sleeping except me and a very large man who spent the
night standing in the area by the toilets. I thought it was
because his seat was too small, but maybe he was just airsick. On
one of my excursions down the aisle to get my circulation going,
I was sorely tempted to ask him if I could have his aisle seat because
sometime during the wee hours the plastic glass of water on the tray of
the woman next to me tipped over and spilled all over her and half over
me. She spent the rest of the night sitting on her Ladies Home
Journal and fanning her jeans with the airline’s safety instruction
folder. I thought this was a great opportunity for Lacsa to do
some fine public relations by putting someone into the nearly empty
Executive Class. Lacsa didn’t see things my way.

Once home in my apartment, I intermittently napped and ate. I thought again that it would be interesting to research
the idea that when one basic need is frustrated, we substitute
another. In this case I couldn’t sleep, so I was eating whatever
I could find in my bare refrigerator and cupboard.

It takes me about three days to unpack and get back into my regular
routine. It was not until I saw three of my little sparrows
keeping dry on my balcony while the rain came streaming down that I
felt like I was in my apartment.

The next day I had to replenish my cupboards. I
had clipped an interesting column written by Drs. Joe and Teresa Graedon (he, a pharmacologist and she a

medical anthropologist) in the
Pasadena newspaper. It was entitled, “Prudent exposure to sunlight may
be good.” We all know what that means – medical science is changing
its mind again.

In this case a Dr. Edward Giovannucci, in his keynote
speech to the AMA for Cancer Research, said that exposure to the sun
might prevent 30 cancer deaths for every one caused by skin cancer.
It’s the vitamin D, stupid. Most people don’t get enough of it – and
certainly in countries where people stay indoors and in cars most of
the time, they don’t.

This new information pleased me because I have long thought that
sunscreen does more harm than good, and that exposure to the sun in
Costa Rica has probably helped prevent osteoporosis in both men and
women. (Vitamin D is also necessary for the absorption of calcium).
It will be interesting to see if the increased use of cars in this
country is going to affect the health of the people on yet another
front. Of course, as in most situations, moderation is important.

We actually need more than twice the currently recommended 400
International Units IUs) of vitamin D daily. Sunshine is important
because it stimulates the production of Vitamin D in the skin. High
SPF sunscreen reduces the amount of vitamin D the skin can take in. One
can overdose on vitamin D taken orally, but the skin only makes as much
as the body can use.

Armed with this knowledge I headed for the Auto Mercado without
sunscreen -- which is what I normally do, anyway. On my way home in a
taxi with my 18,000 colones worth of groceries (about $37 -- more than
I have ever spent at one time), the warm pillowed breeze coming through
the open window of the taxi felt like a caress. That is when I really
felt I was back home in Costa Rica.

The Fuerza Pública is starting a series of seminars for business
people to increase security for tourists.

The industry has been stung in the last couple of months by reports of
thefts from tourists and police inaction.

The first training session was this week in Vara Blanca de Heredia
where some 19 business people, 13 private security guards and eight
Fuerza Pública officers spent 30 classroom hours learning
from instructors from the Excuela Nacional de Policía. The
course was the first of four that will be given in the Heredia area.

The subject matter was reported to be general and covered making
general studies of vulnerable areas and keeping track of individuals in
the area.

“Considering that Vara Blanca has become in the last few years a high
tourist sector, we decided to bring these discussions not only to our
officers but to all the business people of the area,” said Comisionado
Reinaldo González, regional director of the Fuerza
Pública.

The next training session will be in Sarapiquí. Individuals
interested in participating can obtain more details at 262-9316 or
260-9850.

The bulk of the crime confronting tourists involves stolen bags and
non-confrontational crime. In some cases luggage is spirited out of
hotel rooms minutes after the tourists arrive. Other times the thefts
happen at bus stations.

Machismo and bullets
lead to tragedies

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

Something akin to a Greek tragedy played out this week in
Aserrí, in the mountains a few miles south of San José.

The case was another chapter in the growing statistics of domestic
violence and the macho temperment. A man, Erick Monterrosa, 26, was not
going to let his long-time companion leave him and take his 2-year-old
son. The woman had taken refuge in the home of a relative.

Monterrosa, who had a history of violence with the woman, showed up
Monday night and forced the woman to surrender the child. Police got on
the case and chased the man in a car. But when it appeared he would be
captured, he put a bullet in the child and then into himself.

Both father and child died this week.

Meanwhile in Guanacaste law officers are still seeking a former reserve
policeman named Castro in the double murder of his former girl friend
and her 15-year-old sister Wednesday afternoon. The shooting happened
in Liberia, and Castro fled.

Officers began searching wooded areas Thursday morning but they also
have notified officials in Nicaragua to be on the lookout for the man.
This shooting, too, was triggered when the woman decided to leave the
man. First Castro tried suicide by ingesting agricultural chemicals.
But he was unsuccessful.

U.N. tells UK to discuss
Falklands situation

Special to A.M. Costa Rica

NEW YORK, N.Y. — Seeking to end what it called the "special and
particular colonial situation" in the question of the Falkland Islands,
the United Nations special panel dealing with decolonization requested
the governments of Argentina and the United Kingdom to resume
negotiations to find a peaceful solution to the long-standing
sovereignty dispute.

Adopting a consensus resolution without a vote, the U.N. Special
Committee on decolonization noted the views expressed last year by
Argentina's president in his address to the General Assembly, in which
he urged the United Kingdom to resume negotiations. The committee
regretted that, in spite of widespread international support for
negotiations, the implementation of relevant assembly resolutions has
not yet started. Argentines call the islands the Malvinas.

Falkland Islands Councillors John Birmingham and Stephen Luxton
underlined that there was no sovereignty issue to discuss with
Argentina — a bullying administration out of touch with the 21st
century — and urged the Committee to concentrate in allowing the
Islanders to choose their own future and exercise their right to
self-determination.

"The Argentine government is confusing territorial integrity with
geographical proximity,” added Luxton, "we have nothing in common with
Argentina culturally, linguistically, historically or politically".

"The fact that Argentines are taught from a young age that the Falkland
Islands have been illegally occupied by British settlers for 170 years
does not make it true," said Luxton, stressing that the Islands' people
were not maintaining a colonial situation, because their country was
not a colony — it was an internally self-governing and largely
self-sufficient British overseas territory.

Rafael Bielsa, minister for foreign affairs said the special nature of
the Malvinas Islands question derived from the fact that the United
Kingdom had occupied the Islands by force in 1833, ousted the Argentine
population and authorities on the Islands and replaced them with
settlers of British origin. Then, as now, Argentina had not
consented to the acts of force that gave rise to the Malvinas question,
he said.

In perhaps one of the most ill-considered military moves of the 20th
century, Argentina invaded the islands in April 1982 thereby provoking
a military response from the British government of Margaret Thatcher.
Argentina lost 700 soldiers and sailors and had nearly 12,000
servicemen taken prisoner in their confrontation with the Royal Marines
and a Royal Navy battle group.

Three groups present
at Teatro Nacional

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

What is being termed a gran fusion of music takes place Saturday at the
Teatro Nacional. A woodwind quintet, the Orquestra Sinfónica
Intermedia and the the Carerata Preparatoria chamber group.

The 8 p.m. event had an admission charge of 1,000 colons, slightly more
than $2.

The groups are associated with the Instituto Nacional de Música.

The chamber group under the direction of Lorna Castillo begins with
Danza Feliz of Leopold Mozart, followed by Tomahawk by R. Matesky and
“Variations over a theme” based on French folklore by J. Holesovsky.

The woodwind quintet directed by Carlos Ocampo will present the
Pastoral, as interpreted by Gabriel Pierné and “Minuet.”

The symphonic orchestra under Carlos Vives will offer several sections
including Aaron Copland's“Fanfare for the Modern Man” and “The
Planets” by Georges Bizet.

Big show starts in Heredia

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

The sixth edition of the Festival Nacional de las Artes opens in
Heredia Saturday for a nine-day run.

There are 17 locations and more than 3,000 artists of all disciplines
involved in the event.

There is theater, movies, music, dance, painting, sculpture, folklore,
much of it in the Parque Central de Heredia.

The opening concert is Saturday at 7 p.m. With the Orquesta
Sinfónica Juvenil at the park.

Professional Directory

A.M. Costa Rica's professional directory
is where business
people who wish to reach the English-speaking community may invite
responses.
If you are interested in being represented here, please contact the
editor.

Real estate agents and servicesMARGARET SOHN
formerly with Carico and now with Great Estates

Call us for your real property legal and investment
needs at 225-0501
or send us an e-mail at amcr@firstcr.com

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The second-to-last card goes
down in a Thursday night game at a local casino where Texas hold
'em is the growing sport. The players will bet based on the four
exposed cards and the two in their hand. The fifth open card yet to be
played will decide the hand.

Poker is the new wave for local gamblers and expats

By Jesse Froehling
of the A.M. Costa Rica staff

The World Series Of Poker is scheduled to start July 7 at the Rio All
Suite Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas, and several local players are
hoping to get a piece of the over $60 million in prize money.
Over 6,000 people from all over the world are expected for the main
event.

Just like in the United States, the popularity of Texas Hold 'em in
Costa Rica has skyrocketed faster than the pot size in a no-limit game.

But some local players like Jamie Ligator are crusty veterans.
This year will make 10 in a row he has played at the World Series of
Poker.

“It's the hardest tournament in the world just by the sheer number of
people,” he said. “But the winner is considered the champion of
the year no matter how well he or she does in other tournaments.”

Other local players scheduled to play in the world series include
Humberto Brenes and his brothers Alex and Erik, Jose Rosenkrantz,
Arturo Morales, Mario Zeledon, and Dewey Tomko, co-owner of the
Horseshoe Casino with Ligator and the only American expat of the bunch.

Only a few years ago, poker here was primarily a Gringo
pastime. Now Ticos are slowly gaining interest as well and
many games are in Spanish, said Russ Martins, manager of the poker room
at the Horseshoe.

He said that hold 'em had marginal interest a few years ago when Luis
Milanes sponsored tournaments in Costa Rica. The Milanes era
ended
when the gambler and casino operator folded up his high-interest loan
venture, Savings Unlimited, and

became a fugitive in
November 2002.
After that, poker in Costa Rica all but died, although Milanes
sometimes can be seen on television during reruns of poker tournaments
he sponsored.

The Horseshoe has nightly games in both English and Spanish and the
Flamingo Casino in Hotel Europa has tournaments Tuesdays, Thursdays and
Sundays. The Fiesta Casino near Juan Santamaría
International in
Alajuela and the Jazz Casino in Jacó also have games.
Martins says
there are plans to start a game in Tamarindo.

Martins traces the game's popularity to the success of Chris
Moneymaker, the World Series of Poker champion two years ago.
Moneymaker paid $40 to enter an online tournament and won. That
particular tournament happened to be a satellite, meaning that the
winner is automatically invited to the World Series of Poker. The
aptly named Moneymaker, who had been playing for only three
years,
went and won $2.5 million.

Afterward, says Martins, people started to realize that anyone has a
chance to win. The popularity of poker spread like that of the
hula
hoop in the 50s. The proof is in the numbers. This year,
with over
6,000 people scheduled to play in the world series, the field will be
the largest ever with the most winnings.

Players can enter in one of two ways. They can either earn their
way
in through a satellite like Moneymaker and also Ligator did in an
online tournament, or they can fork over the $10,000 and hope.
Many
of the people who pay the whole entry fee, says Martins, are known as
“dead-money seats,” meaning they have little to no chance of
winning.
These players hope simply to lose to a big name player says
Martins.
However, TV commentators labeled Moneymaker a dead-money seat early on,
and he went on to win.

So you
want to play poker? Here's how to do it!

By the A.M. Costa
Rica staff

So you want to learn how to play “hold 'em?” Here's how you can lose
your life savings faster than your car keys:

First, one player is given a dealer button. This simply keeps
track of who would be the dealer if the casino doesn't provide
one. The button moves left after every hand. Before the
cards are dealt, the player immediately to the dealer's left has to pay
a small bet called the “small blind.”

In the nightly games at the Horseshoe, the bet is a dollar.
The player immediately to his or her left pays a bet twice as much as
the small blind called the “big blind.” So at the Horseshoe, it's
$2.

Now the dealer gives each player two cards face down. The
“action” continues left from the player who paid the big blind.
All the players have three options. They can either fold their
cards to wait for the next hand, match whatever the largest bet is, or
raise by betting more. To raise, one must bet a multiple of the
big blind.

In some games, the amount one can raise is regulated but in “no limit”
games, a player can bet as much as he or she pleases. If someone
bets all their chips they say “I'm all in.”

Now, back to the game at hand.

After every player has decided to match the largest bet or fold, the
pot is “even.” The dealer then lays down three cards face
up. These
are called “the flop,” and are community cards, meaning all players may
use them in their hands. The
action starts again. Only the player to
the left of the big blind can bet if he or she
wants, but it is not
mandatory. If the player

chooses
not to bet, they “check.” The action
continues left until the pot is even. The dealer then lays down
another card called “the turn” face up. This is also a community
card.

The action goes left again starting with the player to the left
of the big blind and when the pot is even, the dealer lays down the
last card called “the river,” also face up. Once again, the
player to
the left of the big blind starts the action and when the pot is even,
whoever is left lays down the cards.

A poker hand is five cards. Each player has his or her own two
cards
plus use of three of the five community cards. Whoever has the
best
hand wins the pot.

Here's a quick summary of hands:

“High card” is the lowest hand in poker. Next is a
pair. Two pairs beats that and three of a kind is better than two
pair.

A straight must be five cards in a row, the higher the straight, the
better the hand. So a “king high” straight beats a “ten high”
straight. After a straight is a flush: five cards of the same
suit.
It doesn't matter what number they are as long as they're the same
suit.

A full house is a pair and a three of a kind. It beats a
flush. Four
of a kind, all the cards in the deck of a given number, beats a full
house. A straight flush, consecutive cards of the same suit,
beats
four of a kind and happens very rarely. A royal straight flush is
an
ace, king, queen, jack, ten of the same suit. These happen about
as
often as lottery wins, so don't count on one.

Start practicing and save your colons. The buy in at the World
Series of Poker is $10,000.

Dr. Lenny's
column
gets toasted

That heavy thunderstorm that
swept through San José about 2:30 p.m. zapped the computer
containing Dr. Lenny Karpman's food column for this week. Both the
computer and the food column can be resurrected, but some time
will be needed. Look for the doctor's latest work next Friday.

Another test sought to confirm Tamarindo remains

By Saray Ramírez Vindas
of the A.M. Costa Rica staff

Human remains found the last week at Tamarindo Beach correspond to the
young Australian who vanished March 4 at the same beach, said Francisco
Segura of the Judicial Investigating Organization.

According to Segura two days after the remains were found, the
Australian government sent via E-mail the dental records to be
compared by pathologists in the forensic medicine laboratory in Heredia.

The discovery of the remains was reported by A.M. Costa Rica a week
ago, and speculation was high at that time that the body parts were
those of Brian Dobbins, an Australian student who has been the object
of an intense search. The body was found in a mangrove. There was
only one person reported missing in the area when the remains
were found. The size of the bones and other characteristics were
consistent with a man of an adult male.

Australian authorities are seeking more proof. They seek a second
evidence of identity, said Segura, adding that due to certain unique
characteristics in the teeth of the Australian, there is little doubt
that his body has been found.

This dental characteristic became the most important key, similar to a
fingerprint, said Segura. Pathologists

have been very careful
because the case is a high-profile important
one. The identification experts are awaiting samples of the blood
of
the man's parents in order to run some DNA tests as a second proof.
Still up in the air is where such tests will be conducted, said Segura.

Pathologists from the Australian government will meet with their Costa
Rican counterparts to discuss, analyze and compare results of the
investigation. If all are satisfied that the remains are those of
Dobbins, left open is the manner of death.

He was last seen walking
down a beach, but it is unlikely that wave action brought his body to
the place where it was found.

Segura said that the bones and the remains that investigators have show
no sign of violence, although the process of decomposition and the
actions of scavenger animals has destroyed many clues.

The Judicial Investigating Organization has opened a case on the death.

Dobbins was an exchange student at a Florida university and came to
Costa Rica during spring break. Both his parents have been here since
he was reported missing. Investigators noted early on that the man was
not carrying a passport or much money when he vanished.

Regional strategy session being held today on gangs

Special to A.M. Costa Rica

The Inter-American Development Bank is holding a regional seminar
today in Panama on strategies to prevent youth violence and crime.

The development bank said that participants at the event will include
regional justice and security officials, human-rights commissioners and
police chiefs from Central America, Mexico and the Dominican Republic,
as well as international experts on gang violence.

The seminar, called "Alternatives to the Path of Gangs," will provide
an overview of the violence-reduction and citizen-security programs
financed by the bank in various Latin American and Caribbean
countries. Other participants in the event, to be held in
Panama's capital of Panama City, will discuss their countries'
situations and successful experiences of rehabilitation of former gang
members.

Two studies will be presented at the seminar: “Gangs in the
Mesoamerican Region and the Caribbean -- A Comparative View” by
Colombian researcher Mauricio Rubio and “Police and Security -- A New
Paradigm” by Chilean academic Hugo Fruhling.

The development bank said it supports efforts by national and local
authorities, civil-society groups, and the private sector to reduce
youth violence and crime in Latin America. The programs include
assistance for designing security and youth policies, strengthening
security and human-development agencies, modernizing police forces, and
carrying out communications and awareness campaigns.

U.S. official Adolfo Franco said in April that Latin America's
rising crime rate and gang violence are taking a tremendous toll on
democratic consolidation

and development in the
region, and efforts to deal with these threats
must address both the enforcement and prevention components of crime
mitigation.

Franco, assistant administrator for Latin America and the Caribbean at
the U.S. Agency for International Development, said in U.S.
congressional testimony that Latin America's crime rate is double the
world average, and he indicated that this high incidence of crime is
taking a toll on the region's economic development and public faith in
democracy.

The official quoted development bank estimates that Latin America's per
capita gross domestic product would be 25 percent higher if the
region's crime rates were equal to the world average. He added
that
business associations in the region have identified crime as the No. 1
issue negatively affecting trade and investment.

"Latin America is caught in a vicious circle, where economic growth is
thwarted by high crime rates, and insufficient economic opportunity
contributes to high crime," Franco told the House International
Relations Committee's Western Hemisphere Subcommittee. While
acknowledging that the problem of gangs and crime cannot realistically
be solved in the short term, Franco said the Agency for International
Development is working with regional governments in Latin America on
effective measures that strengthen institutions and build local
capacity to deal with the problem.

Officials have reported that youth gangs are spreading their influence
throughout Central America. Some gangs have connections with similar
criminal organizations in California and other U.S. States. El
Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras are plagued by gangs, and Costa Rican
officials have reported the arrival of some gang members.

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